Read this excerpt from chapter 2 of the scarlet letter.
meagre, indeed, and cold, was the sympathy that a transgressor might look for, from such bystanders at the scaffold. on
the other hand, a penalty which, in our days, would infer a degree of mocking infamy and ridicule, might then be
invested with almost as stern a dignity as the punishment of death itself.
which best describes the purpose of the words "meagre," "scaffold," "stern," and "punishment of death"?
they impart a judgmental, reproachful mood.
they impart a gloomy and woeful mood.
they establish the municipal setting of the town square,
they establish the boisterous setting at the scaffold.